painted in flames
by kathillards
Summary: The world has a funny way of making things fit together in ways that they shouldn't. ―- HunterLauren


**notes:** if you don't enjoy crackships, this probably isn't for you.

i tried to make this as canon-compliant with samurai as possible; i had to make up a lot of things because...it's samurai. and we had barely any information on lauren's life pre-series so i worked with what i got.

if my last fic was a love letter to kat, this one is a love letter to lauren. everyone should love her, and i hope you enjoy watching hunter falling in love with her.

* * *

 **painted in flames**

 _my eyes are blue but i'm seeing red_  
 _and i just can't shake you out of my head_

― little mix, love drunk

* * *

The sun shines in brilliant golds over the lonely mansion situated at the top of the hill, overlooking the city in the valley below. It's a beautiful house, old and still strong, made of white stone and red wood, with a path winding up the hill leading straight to the shining glass front doors. There's nobody outside; everything is unimaginably still. If you didn't know the house was there, you would never have been able to find it.

Hunter glances over at Cam. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

Cam looks over the scroll with directions on it one last time, then rolls it up. "Positive. Doesn't it just _look_ like an ancient samurai order type of house?"

"Well, you would know," Hunter mutters, following him up to the front door. Cam opens it with a key he's procured from god knows where and steps inside with Hunter behind him, their footsteps echoing loudly as their shoes hit the wooden floors.

"Hello?" Cam calls out uncertainly as they tread further down the hallway, coming upon an equally empty living room and spiral staircase leading up to the second floor. "Master Fukimara, are you there?"

Someone jumps down from the stairwell. Hunter whirls at the same time Cam does, instinctively dropping into a defensive position, until he realizes it's a girl and she's only standing there, staring at them. His hands unclench as he looks at her, gauging her not to be a threat – she's clearly skilled, if the jump is any indication, but she keeps her hands folded behind her back, her head up, her shoulders straight.

She's trained, but she's not an enemy, and she must know they're not as well. He drops his hands and straightens up, surveying her as a person and not as a threat now. She's younger than him, but not by much, and she has straight blonde hair tied in a ponytail that reminds him immediately of Tori. That's about where the similarities end, though – Tori is outgoing and cheerful and _blue_ , and this girl is definitely not. She stands prim and composed and if the color of her dress is any indication, she's even more red than he is.

"Lauren?" Cam asks as he draws back into a resting position. "I'm Cam, I was – "

"Invited here by my mentor, yes, I'm aware," says the girl – Lauren, he remembers, Lauren Shiba, head of the Shiba Clan and the Samurai Rangers. She doesn't move, not even to unfold her hands from behind her back, staring at Cam with an almost unnerving amount of calm.

Then she turns to look at him. Her perfect composure drops a bit as her brow furrows. "Who are you?"

Hunter raises an eyebrow. "I'm…you don't know who I am?"

"Should I?" she asks, almost in disdain. Annoyance swells inside him. Who does she think she _is_? He's here to _help_ her, on his own free time, and she doesn't even _know_ who he _is_.

Cam diffuses the situation, setting one hand on his arm to calm him down. "This is Hunter Bradley. He's a friend of mine, and he's the sensei at the Thunder Ninja Academy. You asked for my help with the wards, well, the Thunder Academy has some of the best there is. He's here to help you."

"I'm considering it," he can't help adding out of spite. Lauren frowns at him and Cam jabs an elbow into his ribs.

"But you're not a samurai," she notes, finally moving to step around them in a circle. "What would you know about samurai wards?"

"What do you know about the Thunder Ninja Academy?" he shoots back at her.

Lauren pauses. "Nothing."

Hunter smirks. "Exactly."

Cam sighs. "Hunter, please don't antagonize her," he says with all the world-weariness of someone who knows that Hunter will never do what he says.

"Hey, she asked!"

Lauren rolls her eyes. "Fine. Well, Mentor will be back in an hour. There was an emergency with one of our families, out in the country. But I can show you where the problem is. It's right outside in the backyard."

Cam nods and follows Lauren out to a sliding glass door that opens into a spacious backyard garden, Hunter trailing after them as he looks around the house. It's incredibly big for a place only two people live, and Lauren doesn't seem like she needs all the luxury. Everything seems untouched, like it's still waiting for a family.

"Nice place," he comments as he joins the two of them in the center of the garden. "Is it all yours?"

Lauren doesn't look at him, but she does frown at a rosebush. "It's the Fukimara ancestral home. Their line's died out, though."

He gets the feeling he's said something wrong. Lauren doesn't give him time to react or answer, instead walking forward to a tall cherry blossom tree that towers over the rest of the garden. Hunter looks at Cam in askance, but Cam only mouths the words " _Shut up"_ and then walks over to Lauren and the tree.

"Is this the place?" he asks her, setting down his bag of scrolls and electronics as Lauren touches a palm to the center of the tree trunk.

"Yes, this is where the wards are powered from," she confirms. The trunk starts glowing red at her touch, and when she pulls her hand away, a circle has opened into the heart of the tree. "You can do your work here. I'll be inside. You can come in for drinks and snacks when you need a break."

"Thanks," Cam says, waving Hunter over to look inside the tree with him. "We'll fix it for you in no time, Lauren."

She bows her head at him in thanks, then disappears inside. Hunter watches her go, the wind whistling around them in the silence she leaves.

-:-

He and Cam work with the magic inside the tree for half an hour, trying to untangle where it had been corrupted and fizzed out on the wards surrounding the house. He hates to admits it, but Lauren had been right about the difference between ninja wards and samurai wards – samurai magic is nothing like he's used to. Ninja magic is light and loose easy to slip in and out, quick to melt in his hands. Ninjas, after all, are made for shadows.

Samurai magic, on the other hand, is not. It's heavy and old, tied up and twisted with traditions and history, an unshakeable sense of agelessness. It weighs him down when he tries to use it, like an old book brimming with dust. Cam seems to have less trouble with it, but even he can't quite get it to do what he wants.

"It's because I'm not one of the chosen families," he explains. "My mother, her line was never part of their order. It's a miracle her father was even allowed to train with them to learn the way of the samurai, and that they let him pass it down to my mom."

"So, you're like the stepchild of this great samurai order," Hunter suggests. "Can't she do this, then? Her magic would be able to untangle this mess."

Cam swipes at his face. "No, because it's not her magic here. It's older magic, put in place to protect her. She can't match that level yet."

Hunter sighs, leaning his head against the cherry blossom tree. "What's the story there anyway? You just said she was in hiding, but you didn't tell me why."

Cam shrugs. "Not my story to tell. Her mentor asked me for help – he's in the order, and he knew my mother's family. And I asked you because ninja magic could help solidify these wards so they can't be broken again. But if you want to know her story, you should ask her."

"I don't think she likes me," Hunter snorts, watching as Cam wrenches a knot of energy loose with a burst of his own green magic.

"Should she?" Cam asks with a grin, echoing Lauren's words from earlier. Hunter makes a face at him. "Go talk to her. I've met her before, she's not that cold once you get to know her. She's just…cautious."

"Mm," Hunter says dubiously. "Fine, whatever. I'll get us some drinks. Lemonade?"

"Iced, please," Cam says over his shoulder as Hunter heads back inside.

Master Fukimara has returned to the house, is the first thing he notices upon entering the kitchen, where the only source of noise inside the house is located. He's an old man, with greying black hair and a tired look in his eyes, but he smiles in greeting when he notices Hunter. Like Lauren, he's dressed in modern clothes, a shirt and jeans, though Hunter had been expecting sensei robes or something.

"Hello, Sensei Bradley," he says with a nod. "We appreciate you coming to help us. How are the wards coming?"

"They're coming," Hunter says, leaning against the doorway and watching Lauren as she ducks her head over the pot of tea she's making, not looking at him. "Cam can do this, he's really good with this stuff. I'm just here for the finisher move."

"Indeed," says Master Fukimara, glancing between him and Lauren. "I should go check on him, then. He might need some of my energy to open up the wards so you can work with them. Make yourself at home."

Hunter nods in goodbye and waits for him to leave before he steps forward to place his hands on the kitchen counter in front of Lauren. "You have any drinks? It's hot outside."

She stirs the tea slowly. "Lemonade bottles are in the fridge. You can get glasses from the cupboard on your right, ice is in the fridge, too."

"Thanks," he draws out the word, moving around the counter to the fridge. "Pretty modern house for an ancient order of samurais," he remarks casually.

Lauren finally looks up at him, her gaze unimpressed as she watches him get the lemonade. "We keep up with the times," she says dryly, pouring out her tea into a mug.

Hunter gathers two glasses, then stops and turns to look at her properly, leaning back against the drawers. "So, what exactly are we protecting you from, anyway?"

She frowns, taking a sip of her tea as she looks over at him. Only the island in the center of the kitchen is between them now, but it feels like a much bigger distance than it is. "Cam didn't tell you?"

"He said it's not his story to tell," he says, watching her carefully for any hints of change to her expression. She's annoyingly good at being guarded, though. "I know you're the head of the Shiba clan, and of this secret samurai order that wouldn't let in his family, but that's about it."

Lauren looks almost amused now. "Well, that's not entirely true," she says but doesn't elaborate, instead swirling a spoon around in her tea almost absentmindedly.

Hunter blinks. "You… _aren't_ the head of the Shiba clan?"

She rolls her eyes. "I meant about your friend, his family? We did let in his family, just not from the side he gets his samurai power from."

Hunter stares at her. "That doesn't make any sense."

She walks slowly closer, to the other side of the kitchen island, carefully sipping her tea as she does. "The Watanabes are part of our order. Their daughter, in fact, is going to be the next pink ranger. Cam's family tree is far more complicated than you think. Ninjas and samurais intermarrying at every branch – it's kind of a mess."

"Huh," Hunter muses. "No wonder he's so weird."

He's pretty sure Cam heard that, because there's a loud noise outside that sounds like a warning. For some reason, it makes Lauren smile as she ducks her head over her mug of tea.

"Okay, so, ninjas and samurais don't typically marry each other, then?" he asks, returning to pouring out lemonade in two glasses, turning his back to her. She doesn't move from her position against the island though. "Is that why you don't know anything about the Ninja Academies?"

"Oh, I know about their existence," she says, waving a hand. "We all do. But no, we don't know the specifics. Ninjas and samurais aren't meant to inter _mingle_ at all, let alone intermarry. Otherwise, it just becomes a mess. Between your schools and our order… Cam's family is a unique case, with a long history."

"I thought having evil space ninjas in his family was bad enough," Hunter mutters. "Anyway, that still doesn't answer the question of _you_."

Lauren's face closes up again almost instantly. He raises an eyebrow at her and she sighs. "I appreciate you helping us with our wards, but the fact that you even know I exist is – well, it's worrying. Necessary, maybe, but…"

"Look," Hunter says, dropping his voice to as soft a tone as he can manage. "I get that you're in hiding. Cam told me that much, that this is all top secret. But I'm _good_ with secrets. I'm the sensei of a super top secret ninja academy, you know? And a _power ranger_ on top of that. I promise I won't tell, I just – I just wanna know who I'm working for here."

"Understandable," she says, looking down at her tea. Her hands are shaking, almost imperceptibly, but he notices – he's gotten good at noticing the little things, working as a sensei. "It's not much, though. I'm in hiding so I can train to defeat Master Xandred when he rises again. If he knows I exist, he might find me and kill me, and I'm the only one with the power to seal him away. That's why this is all so secret."

"And that's why you need the wards," he finishes softly, the weight of her world settling in on him, as if he's absorbed it just by listening to her. "Must get lonely, though."

Lauren smiles wistfully, finally moving away from him into the light of the living room. "I have Master Fukimara. And sometimes, I have visitors. A few people are in the know, like Cam's father. And another mentor of ours. It – it's okay. It's not a terrible price to pay."

He runs his tongue over his teeth, unsure of what to say. Her words echo in his ears, filling up the room. She stops looking at him, instead walking over to the windows that view the backyard, staring out at the flowers that fill her garden.

Hunter bows his head over the lemonade glasses, adding in ice and then quietly heading back outside through the door, leaving her to watch them through the window. Her figure is striking against the backdrop of the sunlit glass, tiny and blonde but with so much responsibility – and so much loss – in her stance.

-:-

An hour later, Cam has finally sorted out the problem and left the wards for him to work with his ninja powers while he takes a break to eat inside with Master Fukimara. Hunter is so engrossed in trying to figure out how he can get ninja magic to blend with samurai magic that he doesn't even hear Lauren behind him until she speaks.

"Need any help?" she asks, and he nearly jumps ten feet in the air. "I thought ninjas were supposed to be stealthy," she adds, a smile playing at her lips as she watches him attempt to regain his composure. "You know, be aware of your surroundings and all that?"

"I was _focusing_ ," he says, annoyed and mostly with himself. She's right; ninjas aren't supposed to let others sneak up on them, especially not samurais. Even Cam has never really managed to scare any of them, though he's tried. But Lauren's footsteps are quiet, and he had been lost in his work. "Did you need something?"

"Just checking on the progress," she says, moving over to take a seat on a small wooden bench under the branches of the cherry blossom tree. "How are you doing?"

"Dandy," he mutters, glowering down at the red and green lights sparking inside the hole in the tree. The magic within powers the invisible wards set up around the house, but they're still fizzling, which means there's still something off. "How did they get so messed up, anyway?"

Lauren shrugs. "They're old wards. They've been protecting this house for generations. They were thought to be sufficient to guard me, but clearly not. A monster got in last week; we were barely able to destroy it."

"You need some serious upgrades," Hunter tells her, kneeling down to peer closer at the lights. He pauses, then glances back at her. "Are you just gonna sit there and watch me?"

"Why, do you want me to leave?" she asks, raising her eyebrows.

Hunter shakes his head. "No, actually… could you show me some of your samurai powers? I'm so used to Cam's, and these are so different from his – I need to know what I'm working with."

Lauren looks a little surprised but she nods. "Sure, I can try. We use kanji, though, not our hands." From her pocket, she withdraws a red brush phone – a shodophone, he recalls from Cam's lessons on samurai history during the drive over to Panorama City. She frowns in concentration and draws a quick kanji in the air, then sends it spinning with a flick of her wrist.

Red fire bursts on the grass, startling him with their heat and intensity. The flames lick the ground, dancing around until he remembers himself and moves closer to examine them, stretching one hand out cautiously.

"Will they hurt me?" he asks, glancing over his shoulder at her. She shakes her head, and he takes a deep breath and plunges his hand into the flames. They're hot, but not like real fire; they don't burn him. He's not sure if that's normal or if she's made these special for him, but he manages to focus in on the magic of the flames, the red energy inside them. It feels so different from his ninja powers and even from Cam's samurai powers – none of them can control fire like this.

"This is…wow," he murmurs, watching the fire dance its way up his palm, over his wrist, sliding up his arm. It tickles, in a warm sort of way, and it leaves no burns behind. "You're really good at control."

When he looks over at her, she's almost smiling. "Thanks," she says, a hint of pride in her voice – he wonders if she gets compliments often, or at all. "Is it helping?"

Hunter looks between the fire and the lights in the tree. It's the same sort of magic, though the wards are far older than Lauren's fire, but now they seem more familiar, now that he's held Lauren's magic in his hand. "Yeah, I think so," he says, watching as she lets the fire fade away before moving back towards the wards inside the tree.

"Good," she says, a hint of a smile in her voice as she watches him dive into the magic. "I would hate to say the sensei of the _Thunder Ninja Academy_ had been foiled by our old samurai wards."

Hunter pulls back to stare at her, his jaw dropping. "Are you making fun of me?"

"No, I would never," she says, completely seriously. "You are, after all, the sensei of the Thund—"

He throws a handful of cherry blossoms at her and she actually laughs, the sound soft and girlish in a way that makes him think she probably doesn't laugh very often. "Wow, I didn't know the _head of the Shiba clan_ was allowed to have fun," he teases, making her smile. She has a pretty smile, when it's genuine and not just polite.

"Me neither," she admits, picking stray cherry blossoms out of her hair. Her voice grows softer as she speaks, and she looks down at the pink flower petals in her lap instead of at him. "I should probably get back inside."

Hunter frowns a little. "You can stay," he says. "If you want, I mean. I don't mind the company."

"Oh," she says carefully. "Okay."

He flashes her a smile and returns to playing around with the wards, the two of them sitting in quiet with birds fluttering around them as the sun starts sinking down over the horizon.

-:-

"All right, the wards are back up and running better than ever," Cam announces as he and Hunter step back inside after another hour of work setting up the wards. Master Fukimara has disappeared into his room to write a letter, leaving only Lauren behind to say goodbye.

"Thank you," she says with a small smile, bowing her head. Her hair glints gold in the sunlight, Hunter can't help but notice as it shifts with the movement. "I really appreciate your help."

"Anytime," Cam says, smiling gently at her as he extends his hand for a shake. "You can call us whenever you need help."

"Yeah, and, uh, I tricked it out with some special ninja magic," Hunter grins, gesturing to the tree outside. "If anyone tries to get in now, they're in for a few nasty surprises."

Lauren looks like she doesn't know whether to be disapproving or amused. "Um…thank you," she says, and he winks at her. "Goodbye, and I – I hope I'll see you two again. Someday."

"We hope so, too," Cam says, nodding as he turns to leave. "Bye, Lauren."

Hunter waves once and heads out behind him, looking back only to close the door and see Lauren one last time before she disappeared behind the wards. He can't quite decipher the look on her face as she watches him, but she manages a smile and a small wave before he closes the door between them.

"So…" Cam trails off meaningfully as they set off down the road to where their car is parked. "How'd you like Lauren?"

Hunter shoots him a look, the amused tone of Cam's voice instantly setting off alarms. "What do you mean? She's cool. A little standoffish, at least at first, but she's cool."

Cam snorts, opening the driver's seat and getting in. "Dude, you think I didn't notice you were flirting with her?"

Hunter gapes at him. "I was _not_."

"Really?" Cam grins, waiting for him to get buckled in before he starts the engine, then he pitches his voice higher to mock, " _Wow, Lauren, you're really good at control_."

"Shut up!" Hunter shoves at his shoulder, laughing despite himself. "I was being _nice_. She's, like, five years younger than me. And a _samurai_."

"Hey, my dad married a samurai," Cam points out.

"Yeah, and look what kind of kid it got him," Hunter snickers, and Cam punches him in the arm.

"Just…you know we can't really see her again, right?" Cam mentions a little while later, when they're well on their way back to Blue Bay Harbor. "She's still got a couple years of training left and then, well, she has to go fight that Xandred dude."

"Yeah, of course," Hunter says dismissively, though the idea of Lauren remaining locked up in hiding for the next few years until she goes off to fight an evil samurai monster all on her own turns his stomach to lead. She'd looked so lonely, the few times he caught her with her guard down, and sitting out there under the cherry blossom tree with him – it felt like she wasn't used to being around other people besides Master Fukimara, certainly not people her own age.

It wasn't right for a girl that young to have spent most of her life in hiding, with even more to come. But he doesn't say anything, doesn't reply to Cam's knowing look, only settles into his seat, trying not to think about it. Lauren isn't his responsibility, after all.

She's just a girl he helped out once. By the time she comes out of hiding, he's sure she won't even remember who he is.

-:-

It's two years later, on a day off he's spending at the Wind Ninja Academy with his friends, that Lauren appears in his life again. She bursts into Cam's office, the newer version of Ninja Ops, in a rush of red energy, carrying an injured and unconscious Master Fukimara with her. Cam, Hunter, and Shane stare at her in alarm as she looks up at them, her face streaked with dirt and tears.

"I'm sorry," she gasps out as Cam moves to action first, gathering Master Fukimara from her and taking him over to the couch. "I – I didn't know where else to go. He got attacked on a trip out to Ocean Bluff, and when he teleported back, he was like this, and I didn't know who to call, so I just – "

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Hunter says quickly, because Cam is preoccupied with checking Fukimara's vital signs. "We can help him, just calm down, okay?"

Gingerly, he reaches forward to help her over to a chair, keeping his hand on her arm for balance. Shane still looks a little lost, but he jumps to the medical cabinet out of instinct, before Cam can even tell him to do so.

"I'm sorry," Lauren repeats, burying her head in her hands. "I shouldn't be outside, I shouldn't – I could have messed up the teleportation and ended up somewhere else – "

"But you didn't," Hunter says, kneeling down beside her. "You're here, now, relax. It'll be all right." He's not entirely sure what to do because she doesn't look up or stop shaking, and it's not like he has a lot of experience in this matter – Tori's not really one for crying, and even his female students don't exactly come to their sensei for help. But Cam shakes his head at him when he moves to help him and Shane with Fukimara, so he stays where he is in some feeble measure of comfort.

"Where did you say he got attacked?" Shane asks, wisely side-stepping the question of who she is and how she knows about the academy.

"Ocean Bluff," Lauren mumbles through her hands, until she finally lifts her head up to look at him. "It's the home of the – "

"Jungle Fury Rangers, yeah, we know," Cam says grimly, going through the first-aid kit Shane had brought him. "They're from the Order of Pai Zhuq; they've worked closely with the ninja academies in the past."

Lauren nods slowly, staring down at the floor. "Us, too. Our order, I mean. I think he was there to talk to their mentor, get some advice or something. I don't know, but – a monster attacked. And now – "

"He's not dead," Cam tells her kindly, reaching out to place a comforting hand on her knee. "So we can help him. He's just unconscious, and he might have broken a few things, but we can get him what he needs. Just sit tight, okay, it'll all be all right."

"Okay," Lauren says quietly. "Thank you."

Cam nods and jerks his head at Shane and Hunter, who immediately jump forward to help him with Fukimara, who has slowly stirred to consciousness over the course of the conversation. He coughs, choking on the air, and it becomes evidently clear he has a broken rib or two.

"Hey, we're going to help you," Shane says to him in his best authoritative leader voice, the one meant to imbue calm and reason. "You're safe here."

Fukimara nods and coughs again, and Cam busies himself with what he can fix from the first-aid kit. When Hunter turns around from holding Fukimara down for Cam to work with, Lauren is gone and the chair is empty.

-:-

He finds her outside on Cam's office balcony by the time they have Fukimara stabilized enough to relax. She's leaning over the railing, watching the ninjas spar and train on the ground below, and she doesn't move or seem to notice him when he comes up behind her to stand against the doorway. She looks so young, even from behind, with her ponytail coming loose, strands of blond hair fluttering around her face, and her hands curled into fist atop the stone railing.

"Hey," Hunter says quietly, making her turn around in surprise. "How're you holding up?"

"Fine," Lauren replies, managing a small smile as she interlaces her fingers together on the railing, her nails leaving white marks on her skin where they dig into her palms. "How – how is he doing?"

"He'll be okay," he tells her, pushing off the doorway and walking closer. "You did the right thing bringing him here. We can get him all the help he needs."

She nods, looking down, her hair sliding over her shoulders and into her face. On instinct, Hunter reaches forward to brush it out of her eyes, and she jumps at the contact. Quickly, he withdraws his hand.

"Sorry," she says before he can apologize. "I'm not – I'm not used to touch." Her smile wavers a little as she lifts one hand to swipe at the tears on her cheek. "It's not your fault."

"Hey, I – it's okay," he says, shaking his head as he moves to join her at the railing. "I forget not everyone – " _Not everyone has a team_ , but he doesn't say it. She looks miserable enough as it is, lonely and lost, with her only family lying unconscious inside the room. He can't even imagine what it must be like – even in his darkest moments, he's always had Blake.

Blake would know what to do, if he were here. Blake is good with pretty girls; it's why he's had a girlfriend for five years and Hunter hasn't. But he's off touring the country, doing motocross races, and Hunter is the one who's here with Lauren.

He offers her a smile instead of finishing his statement, letting it awkwardly trail off into the air, and leans sideways against the railing, watching her as she stares down at her hands, head bowed till she can't see him through a curtain of her loose blonde hair.

"Tell me about him," he says finally, cutting across the silence. Lauren looks up uncertainly at him and he elaborates, "Master Fukimara. Your life at his house. Tell me about it. It might help, calm you down. Good memories and bad – they remind you that things are real when everything feels hopeless."

She swallows. "I – okay," she murmurs. "Um, well, he – he makes really good sesame chicken," she says, and her breath escapes in a little laugh. "He has this, like, special sauce? And, um, it tastes – it's spicy and – it's sweet. He makes it for me once a week because I love it so much, but he says too much of a good thing can be bad."

Hunter smiles as she continues talking, going from food to training exercises to tv shows they watch at the end of the day when they need to unwind. She tells him about Fukimara's daughter, who died in the last samurai war, how she had been like an older sister to her when she was alive, how Fukimara told her that she reminded him of his daughter.

By the time she exhausts herself of topics to talk about, the color has returned to her cheeks, no longer as tear-streaked as they were when she appeared in the office, and when she looks up at him again, it's with a genuine smile.

"Thank you," she says softly, and he nods, just as Cam opens the door to call her back into the room. Lauren glances over her shoulder before she leaves the balcony, her eyes bright when she looks at him. Hunter watches her go back to her mentor, crossing his arms as he leans back against the railing, feeling warm even as the winds pick up around him.

Cam shoots him a meaningful look, but he ignores it. It's not like Cam can prove anything, anyway.

-:-

Lauren and Fukimara end up staying with them for a week or so while he rests, because he can't teleport or really move much in his condition. Cam, with the help of their team, has managed to stabilize him and put him up in a guest room inside the academy, where Lauren stays with him.

She still doesn't talk much whenever Hunter comes by to check on them. By this time, she's been introduced to the rest of the team, except Blake who's out in New York for a press conference, and they're the only ones who know she and Fukimara are at the Wind Academy, in order to protect the secret of her existence.

The next time Hunter visits, a few days later, he finds her out in a secluded garden area, standing under the shade of a banyan tree, watching the pond as it glitters under the light of the sun. It's after classes have finished for the day, so it's getting dark, only a few fading rays of golden sunshine left to dance over the waters. She senses him before he can speak this time, turning around to smile at him in greeting.

"Hi, Hunter," she says, lifting her head. She looks a lot better, more composed, more like the girl she had been the first time he met her. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," he admits, coming up next to her and propping a hand on the trunk of the tree, his arm stretching behind her as they both turn to watch the koi swim around in the pond. "Cam said you were out here. Needed some fresh air?"

Lauren looks down, her face falling unexpectedly. Hunter stares at her in horror – he hadn't meant to upset her. In fact, Cam had specifically warned him against upsetting her before he sent him out here. She inhales deeply, raking a hand through her ponytail almost nervously.

"I'm not really supposed to be outside," she confesses quietly. "But I…I guess I did need some fresh air. And Mentor is asleep so he couldn't…stop me…" Her voice trails off, her expression melting into something uncomfortably like loneliness, like she's lost as she stares out into the waters of the pond. "I should – I should be inside, I – "

"Hey, hey," Hunter says gently, resisting the urge to touch her to calm her down. "Relax. Nobody's gonna find you out here, I promise. I practically had to twist Cam's arm to get him to tell me where you were."

This makes her laugh, even if only a little. "I think Cam doesn't want you hanging out with me, actually."

Hunter frowns. "Why not?"

"Samurais and ninjas," she explains, tilting her head to smile up at him. Her smile is pretty, softened by sunlight, with a hint of teasing in its curve. "Not really a good combination."

"He's one to talk," Hunter snorts.

"He's a special case," Lauren agrees, leaning her head on the tree trunk, her hair fluttering over his hand as it slides down. "He's as ninja as he is samurai." She glances over at him, and he must have an unimpressed look on his face because she adds, "He's just trying to look out for me. Honor my family's wishes and all that. And Mentor's, as well."

Hunter raises his eyebrows. "Their wish for you to…not associate with ninjas? I think it's a little late for that."

"Maybe," she agrees. "But I know Mentor, as much as he likes you, doesn't want me spending too much time with you, or any of the rest of your team. Everyone in the order thinks ninjas are bad influences."

" _Wow_ ," he says, offended. "Who says you guys aren't the bad influences?"

Lauren grins at him. "Well, we're not the ones who hide in the shadows. You can't trust a ninja, you know?"

"I do _not_ know," he huffs, but grins back, leaning forward. Her eyes widen at his proximity but she doesn't move, to her credit. "You wouldn't be here if we weren't trustworthy."

She ducks her head, smiling down at the grass below. "I trust you guys," she admits, and he smiles in pleased satisfaction. "So does Mentor. I just…"

Hunter sighs, tipping his head back, up towards the sky. "I get it. We're not your team."

Lauren wraps her arms around herself and crosses her feet as the wind picks up around them. Her red dress and her hair flutter with the breezes, and she pulls her white cardigan closer to her body. Hunter almost wishes he had a jacket to offer her, but he's in his ninja outfit.

"It's not just that," she murmurs, frowning at the koi pond. "It's that you have _your_ team. Your own family, your own order. I can't even _see_ mine because they can't know I'm alive. You and your friends, your teammates – I don't have any of that."

His heart wrenches. "But you will…right? One day, you're going to be the leader of your own team."

Lauren sighs softly, tilting her head. "It's more complicated than that, I'm afraid," she says, but she doesn't elaborate, and he doesn't press her. Instead, he watches as the stars start to emerge from behind the clouds, blanketing the sky in dots of silver as the sun slowly sinks down over the horizon.

"Hey," he says, an idea building in his head. "You miss your city, right? Wanna see something cool?"

She looks at him in confusion. "Sure, like what?"

Hunter grins and drops his hand down from the trunk to wrap around her waist. She blinks at the touch, but she doesn't move away this time, which he takes as a good sign. "Hold on tight," he says, and waits till she slowly, carefully puts her hands on his shoulders before he moves.

In a streak of crimson, he races them away, far beyond the confines of the Wind Ninja Academy, to a hill overlooking Panorama City. The Fukimara house is nowhere near, for her own protection, so he imagines it's the first time she's seeing it in full, and the streetlamps are all lit up golden to illuminate the city and the beach beside it.

Lauren gasps when she sees it, her hands curling into his shirt to hold on for balance as she stares in awestruck wonder at the city below her. Panorama City glows in the light of the fading sun and the silver moon shimmering above them. The tides of the ocean rise and fall, lapping at the white sands of the beach, and everything is utterly still in the tranquility of the moment.

"Oh, it's beautiful," Lauren breathes, pulling away from him just enough to step forward and look down at the city. "I don't even remember it anymore, but – oh, our house is right there," she says, her eyes widening as she points to a manor situated in a quiet corner of the city. "The Shiba house."

Hunter steps forward to her side, watching lights flicker in the mansion. "Do people live there?" he asks her curiously.

She twists her hands together, suddenly nervous. "Yes," she admits. "My brother and his mentor. I haven't seen them in years."

"You have a brother?" Hunter asks in surprise.

Lauren's hands shake a little as she reaches up to swipe away tears. "Yeah, he – he's a few years younger than me. He knows I exist, but not where I am."

His heart stabs with pain again. The thought of not being able to see Blake… "I'm sorry, that must be – that must be awful," he tells her sincerely, reaching to touch her arm. This time, she does pull away, but she sends him a smile to make up for it.

"It'll be okay," she says softly. "I'll see him someday."

Her voice lingers wistfully in the air for a moment before she steps back, turning her back to the city. Hunter follows her, casting one last look at the lights of Panorama City below them. When he turns back to face Lauren, she has her shoulders straight, perfect composure returned.

"Thank you," she tells him softly, and he nods, unable to find anything else to say. "I really – it was amazing, to see the city again."

"Your city," he reminds her gently, smiling. "Ready to head back?"

"Yes," Lauren says slowly, her gaze traveling back to the city one last time before she lets him slide his arms around her again. "I'm ready."

She presses her cheek against his chest, still looking out at Panorama City before he starts running. She smells like honeydew, sweet and fresh in the whirl of red energy and the winds that surround them. When they land back at the tree they had been standing under, she stumbles a little, but he catches her before she can fall.

"I should go back inside," she says after a moment where she catches her breath, sounding reluctant even as she says the words. "It's – I need to do some more training and then sleep."

Hunter runs a hand through his hair. "I'll see you later, then?"

Lauren smiles over her shoulder at him. "Goodbye, Hunter," she says, and then she disappears back into the academy as night falls over Blue Bay Harbor, and he's left alone with only the winds and his thoughts and the vision of Panorama City, Lauren's city, dancing around in his mind.

-:-

The next day, when he swings by to visit, he finds Cam and Tori in the office, both of them gathered around Cam's computer for work. He moves to head up the stairs to the guest room, but Cam's voice stops him clean in his tracks.

"Don't," he says, looking up from the computer and removing his glasses to level an unimpressed stare at Hunter.

"Why, is she busy?" he asks, and Cam sighs, raising an eyebrow at him. " _What_?"

"Dude," Tori laughs, perched on Cam's desk as she watches him work, "you're totally into her."

Hunter makes a face at her. "I am _not_. She needs a _friend_ , that's all – "

"Yeah, okay, but you shouldn't go out of your way to flirt with her," Cam says with a pointed look. "She's _nineteen_."

"I'm not doing anything with her!" he protests, annoyance filling his tone. "Why do you have such a problem with it, anyway?"

"Because she's a samurai!" Cam says, his voice rising. "It never ends well, okay? Just trust me."

Hunter looks at Tori in disbelief, then back at Cam. "Your _parents_ – "

"Yeah, and she died," Cam snaps. "And none of the samurais even _came to her funeral_. Because she married a ninja."

His voice drops, bitter and angry. Hunter freezes, unsure of what to say, but Cam's not looking at him anymore. Tori sighs and hops off the table to move to where Cam is sitting, dropping down to kneel at his side and put her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"Cam, I'm – "

"Look," Cam says, shaking his head and looking back up at him. "I don't hate them. I've known Lauren since she was a little girl – they like me, because I didn't become a ninja. And I like her, but just because _we're_ not prejudiced doesn't mean the rest of them – in her order, at the ninja academies – aren't still. If Lauren wasn't in hiding, do you think we'd be allowed anywhere near her?"

Hunter frowns, the thought settling oddly inside him. "Look," he says, taking a moment to gather his words carefully. "I'm just trying to cheer her up, all right? She's lonely and frightened and surrounded by people she doesn't know. I've only met her twice, I think you're blowing this a bit out of proportion – "

"Hunter, you flirt with everything that moves," Tori says, rolling her eyes.

"I'm just telling you, you can't do it with Lauren," Cam says before Hunter can protest the statement. "There are a thousand and one ninja girls out there, dude."

His jaw clenches. "I'm not _into her_ like that. Can you just trust me on this? I'm trying to be a good friend."

Cam sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. "And I appreciate it, I really do. Just don't – "

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hunter says irritably. "Don't flirt with her. Got it. No problem."

Cam raises his eyebrows. "And no more little field trips like last night, either. Lauren stays _here_."

Hunter flushes. "I was just – "

"We know," Tori says with a knowing smile. "Just be careful, all right? She's a really nice girl, and I'd hate to see her get hurt."

He pauses, frowning at Tori. "You think I would hurt her?" he asks, trying to keep from sounding too upset at the thought. It probably doesn't work, because Tori's expression instantly softens into an apology.

"Not intentionally," Cam answers for her. "Like she said…just be careful with her. She goes home in a few days, and after that, you won't – "

He pauses, his sentence trailing off. Hunter's not sure why he stopped, but it must have been the expression on his face, because Cam is looking at him meaningfully, in that annoying way he likes to do. Hunter schools his features back into a more neutral one and nods before heading up the stairs to the guest room.

Inside the room, he finds Master Fukimara eating lunch from a tray set up over his bed, while Lauren sits on the couch in the room with Dustin, of all people, who is excitedly telling her stories, complete with animated hand gestures and everything. Lauren watches him with a smile, and Hunter finds himself smiling, too, leaning against the doorway and listening to Dustin's stories until they notice him standing there.

"Hunter, hey, bro!" Dustin says in delight, jumping up to high-five him in greeting. "I was just telling Lauren about that time we totally decimated all of Lothor's monsters and trapped him in the Abyss of Evil!"

"Right, that was the last time you did anything cool," Hunter grins, earning himself a punch in the arm. "How are you doing, Master Fukimara?"

Fukimara nods at him, managing a tired smile. "I'm doing well, Hunter. Thanks in no small part to your friends for putting us up. I hate to be an imposition."

"Oh, don't worry about it, man," Dustin says easily, waving his hands. "We're happy to help!"

"Yeah," Hunter says, glancing over at Lauren on the couch, where she's watching the three of them with a quiet smile on her face. "And just so you know, the Thunder Ninja Academy is also open if you ever need help."

"But they're way less cool than we are," Dustin adds, and Hunter tosses an arm around his neck and pretends to choke him. "All right," Dustin laughs when he finally frees himself, "I'll, uh, leave you guys alone," he says, nudging Hunter in the ribs before heading out of the room.

Hunter clears his throat, smoothing down his jacket, and enters properly as Lauren rises from her seat. "I just came to…check up on you guys," he says, suddenly self-conscious from Cam and Tori's earlier warnings. He glances at Lauren out of the corner of his eye, but she doesn't seem to be acting any different, though she does meet his gaze briefly before sliding the book in her hands back onto the bookshelf.

"We're doing well," she replies, turning back to look at him, lifting her head as he leans back against the red-painted wall, propping his foot behind him. "I think we'll be ready to go home by the weekend."

Hunter hesitates. "Oh," he says, his mouth feeling dry. "Right, of course. Sick of us already?"

Lauren grins and ducks her head. Fukimara coughs, making Hunter jump a little guiltily.

"Uh, yeah, Mentor is getting a little antsy after our, you know, field trip last night," she stage whispers to him. A smile quirks his lips despite himself. "Probably shouldn't have done that."

"Heh," he grins at her. "Sorry about that."

Lauren smiles apologetically at Fukimara, but she does add, "I had fun, though. Thanks for that."

"Yeah, that's what I'm here for," he says dryly. "The fun sensei, that's what they call me."

She covers a laugh with her hand. "Do they really?"

"No, I'm making that up. I don't know what they call me."

There's a knock on the door behind him. Hunter almost jumps in the air, guilt returning full-force when he remembers that Cam is still in the building and his very clear warning – _don't flirt with her_. But it's only Tori, there with two cups of tea for Lauren and Fukimara.

"We should get going," Tori says after handing them their tea, looking at Hunter. "Students to teach, things to do…right, Hunter?"

"Right," he says slowly. "See you guys around."

Lauren bites her lip as she heads to the doorway to walk them out. "We might be gone by tomorrow," she tells them quietly once they're in the hallway. "But I – thank you, all of you, for helping us. We really appreciate it."

Tori nods, smiling at her, since Hunter has no idea what to say. "Of course, you're welcome anytime. Have a safe trip home, Lauren. It was really nice meeting you."

"Yeah," Hunter says, running a hand through his hair out of habit. "It was – it was great seeing you again."

"You, too," Lauren smiles, and then she closes the door between, leaving Hunter staring at the wood until Tori tugs him back downstairs to Cam's office. She's kind enough not to say anything, but he thinks her silence might be worse.

-:-

"Dude," Shane says, almost two years later, barging into his quarters at the Thunder Ninja Academy. "Have you heard the news? It's all over TV – and the ranger networks."

Hunter blinks up at him in confusion from where he's lying sprawled on his couch, grading papers. Whose bright idea was it to give ninjas history exams, anyway? "Heard what? I've been so busy with scheduling all these finals for my students – "

Shane grabs his TV remote and turns it on. "Yeah, but you'll want to see this. New rangers in town."

Hunter sits up straight. "New Rangers? What kind?" They haven't had any new teams since Jungle Fury, and it'd been two years of peace and quiet around the world, aside from a few scattered missions and, of course, the ninja schools and all other organizations running on as planned.

But now there are Samurai Rangers on his TV screen, clear as day – pink, yellow, blue, green, and red. Except Red has no skirt, and a male voice.

"Wow," he says, letting his breath out in a low whistle. "They look impressive."

Shane sends him a disbelieving stare. "Is that your only reaction, dude?" he demands.

Hunter shrugs. "What do you want me to say, man? It looks like they've got everything under control."

"…Lauren?" Shane prods, tumbling down onto the couch and jabbing a finger at his shoulder. "Remember her? Cute blonde samurai girl who stayed with us – "

"I remember Lauren," Hunter interrupts quickly, rolling his eyes. "So, she's not a Samurai Ranger yet. Big deal."

Shane stares at him for a moment. "Dude, what's gotten into you? You were, like, totally into her just – what, a year ago?"

"Two years," Hunter corrects automatically, then frowns when Shane smirks. "Wait, I wasn't – why does everybody think that?"

"Because you were," Shane says, irritatingly smug. Hunter throws a pillow at him. "Okay, well, you guys were friends, right? Aren't you…worried? Curious? Anything?"

"I'm not hung up on a samurai girl I haven't seen in two years, Shane," Hunter sighs, tilting his head backwards to view the TV again. There's a megazord on the screen now. "It's probably her brother."

"…She has a brother?"

-:-

Truth is, whatever he'd told Shane, he remembers Lauren. It's not like he's been pining for two years – he's dated other people, he's traveled the country, he's had a school to run, the usual – but there's something about her that sticks to him, a memory living just under his skin. It itches at him, sometimes, reminding him that there was a girl, and he liked to make her smile, and he wanted to give her better than she had gotten from the world.

He still hopes, sometimes, in a corner of his mind where he tucks away things like _feelings_ and _love_ and _wanting_ , that she got what she wanted. Her brother, her team, her family. Her city, golden and beautiful and haunted. Her life, a real life, not a dead girl's life, hidden in the shadows.

But he doesn't think about that too often. He has things to do that don't involve liking a girl who lives in a different world, with a different life and a different path.

And then she shows up on his TV screen.

Not her, of course. The samurais, for as much as they claim to be opposite to ninjas, also keep their identities hidden. But the local networks – and the ranger networks – have been all abuzz.

 **SAMURAI HAS A NEW RED RANGER – AND IT'S A GIRL!**

The headlines annoy Hunter, just a little bit. The articles and the commentary on the news always ask what happened to the first Samurai red, the one who wasn't a girl. As if Lauren is a replacement. As if she's not their _real_ leader, even though she's been practicing and training her whole life to be just that.

He knows, intellectually, that the citizens of Panorama City have no way of knowing the truth. They don't know who Lauren is, they don't even know her name. They don't know she's the head of the Shiba clan, she's the first-born, she's spent her whole life with the weight of _their_ world on her shoulders. They don't know _anything_.

He grits his teeth and turns off the television. She's doing great out there on the battlefield, and that's what matters, not what the annoying newscaster with a nasally voice has to say about her.

He hopes she's happy. He thinks about asking Cam, but decides not to.

She probably doesn't even remember him.

-:-

If she doesn't remember him, she's about to, because a few months after the Samurai rangers hang up their helmets – he has some vague idea about her brother replacing her again and them defeating their big bad – Cam comes to him with an invitation and a look on his face that seems at once unimpressed and amused and eye-rolling.

Cam can do that. His face is very expressive that way.

The invitation, which he jams into Hunter's hands wordlessly and gestures for him to read, is very fancy – curly font and golden borders and printed on heavy, expensive type of paper. Inside, it reads: _You are cordially invited to the birthday party of Lauren Shiba, 2pm on May 18_ _th_ _at the Shiba Manor in Panorama City. We hope to see you there._

He stares at it. Then stares at Cam. Then stares at again.

"It's not just us," Cam says before he can formulate a coherent sentence. "It's kind of a ranger bash. Apparently, Fukimara is throwing it, and he wants to thank us, and also the Jungle Fury rangers will be there. And the Samurai rangers, of course."

"Of course," Hunter repeats faintly. "Uh, are the rest of us going?"

"Yeah, of course, they love Lauren," Cam says dismissively, then pauses and frowns at him. "You don't still – "

"Never did," Hunter says quickly.

"So, you'll go?"

"Sure," he says, and shoves the invitation back at Cam. "Sounds like fun."

-:-

At the party, he doesn't see Lauren for a good few hours, at least not really. She's there at the door to greet them, and they come as a group so he doesn't get a chance – or maybe he avoids – to actually talk to her personally, and then they're being ushered out into the backyard of the mansion which has been set up for a party and is milling with rangers.

Hunter doesn't think about it much, though. Or, he tries not to. He ends up talking to Casey, because Shane has monopolized Jayden, who, as it turns out, is Lauren's younger brother. Hunter tries not to talk to him much, either.

Casey is a welcome distraction – they've met before, since his school and Hunter's academy have worked together in the past, even hosted a student exchange program. And the food is excellent and there's good music playing and he enjoys meeting the other Samurai rangers and seeing the Jungle Fury rangers again.

It's a fun party, it really is. But two hours go by and he's left with a kind of aching in his chest that he hopes comes from the food and not from, like, feeling things. Because the truth is, he's missed her. And she looks really pretty, standing in the center of her – _her_ , not the Fukimara mansion, but _hers_ – backyard, illuminated under the glow of the fairy lights strung up on the trees, in a dark red dress and a smile on her face.

And, well, okay, so he still really likes her smile.

He catches her eye once, and her face seems to brighten, just a little bit, even from the distance, but she doesn't move closer, so he doesn't either. Instead, he picks up a glass of – lemonade, maybe, but hopefully it has some alcohol in it – whatever and escapes inside the house for some less-fresh air.

Inside, he, naturally, runs into Jayden.

-:-

Jayden, while quite a few years younger than him, stands just a bit taller – which is annoying; Hunter's used to being the tallest – and quite a bit more sternly. Hunter blinks and feels like he's on trial.

"Hey," says Jayden first, a bit softer than he'd expected – he supposes that's one thing the siblings have in common, a voice softer than their samurai-bred posture – "You're Hunter, right? Sensei Bradley of the Thunder Ninja Academy?"

Hunter raises his eyebrows. "Yeah, that's me. You must be Jayden, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise," Jayden says, which is such a Lauren word to use that Hunter feels something inside him jump. All of a sudden, he wants to go back outside, see Lauren, talk to her, tell her how much he – "You wanna sit down? I think we should talk."

Whatever was inside of him that was thinking of Lauren twists suddenly, painfully. The trial isn't over yet. "Sure," he says carefully, and follows Jayden into a small sitting room, where they take seats on the couch next to each other.

Jayden doesn't quite seem to know what to say, either. Neither of them speak for a long, awkward moment, and Hunter shifts in his seat, about to say something, anything, to fill the silence, when suddenly –

"My sister's talked about you, you know."

He jolts up straight. "What?"

Jayden's mouth twists; he can't tell if it's a smile or the opposite. Probably the opposite. "Yeah, she, uh, mentioned you and the others when she told us about her time – away."

 _Her time dead_ , Hunter thinks spitefully. _Her time alone, her time training, her time trying to protect_ you _._

"Did she?" he says instead of what he's thinking, trying to keep his tone as neutral as possible.

Jayden nods, his eyes narrowed like he's surveying Hunter. Observing him. _Judging_ him. "Look, I'm not – I'm not here to do the overprotective brother thing. If you like her – "

Hunter's entire brain shuts off. "Wait, what?"

"Well," Jayden says with a shrug, "I know she likes you."

"Wait, _what_?"

Jayden's starting to look a cross between amused and annoyed. "I haven't spent much time with my sister, but I like to think I know her well enough. She talked about Cam, Shane, Dustin, Tori, and not one of them the same way she talked about you."

"I – " His mouth feels dry. "Really?"

"Really."

"But – uh – " Hunter hesitates. "What about – y'know, the whole ninja-samurai thing? Are you…okay with this?"

Jayden looks a bit uncomfortable, but nods. "I mean – you know. It's a new generation. Our parents – they weren't part of your…your legacy. They weren't _power rangers_ , not like we are. And – well, so are you. I'm not saying…everyone is in favor of you dating Lauren – "

"Hold on, I didn't say anything about dating her," he says, though something inside him somersaults at the thought. It's weird, to have the possibility open. To allow himself to admit he feels something.

Jayden looks at him dubiously. "Right. Well, if you don't want to date her, you should stay away from her."

Hunter coughs. "Uh, _what_?" It kind of feels like this entire conversation has been a series of smacks to his face.

"I told you, she likes you," Jayden says. "I don't know if that's because you were basically one of the only people she interacted with when she was living out there, or if you're her type or something. But she does. So, I'd really rather you not break her heart."

"I wouldn't!" Hunter protests, the idea of that making him want to smack _himself_. "I mean – okay, look. It's just that she's, like, younger than me? You know? It's weird, right?"

Jayden blinks. "Yeah, but…she's _Lauren_."

He says _Lauren_ like that makes it simple. And maybe it does. She's Lauren, and she's twenty-three today, and if she likes him, then it is that simple. Right?

Still, he's not going to let some samurai kid with a clearly unresolved crush on his gold ranger dictate his decisions. He thanks Jayden and stands up, but when they go outside, he doesn't, like part of him wants, make a beeline for Lauren. She's talking to Lily, anyway, so he figures he shouldn't interrupt.

If he's being honest, he's nervous. And he very, very rarely gets nervous. Side-effect of going evil, he presumes. Blake has only ever gotten nervous around Tori, which probably explains a few things.

Speaking of Blake, he can't corner his brother to talk anywhere – one minute, he's jabbering away with Mike about sports, the next he's glued to Dominic's side talking about traveling the country. Hunter mills around by the refreshments stand and waits for someone – Cam, Tori, Shane, Dustin, whoever – to come find him first, but instead, a burst of blonde and yellow appears at his side.

He looks down in surprise, expecting Tori and getting – he's forgotten her name, damn it, Samurai yellow. She's cute, tiny and full of blonde curls and bright yellow sunshine. Like Dustin, but miniature.

"Emily," she introduces with a smile. "It's lovely to meet you, I've heard so much about you."

"You have?" he asks in surprise, then shakes his head. "Sorry – it's nice to meet you, too. I'm Hunter."

"I know," she giggles, pouring herself a glass of fruit punch. "I've met all the rest of your team, but I haven't gotten to talk to you yet."

"Oh," he says, a little a bemused. "Well, uh. Here I am."

Emily looks up at him – she has to look quite a bit up, she's absurdly small – and grins. "You're cute. I can see why Lauren likes you."

Hunter nearly trips. "I – thank you – " he says on autopilot, blinking at her. "How do you know – "

Emily waves a hand. "It's a girl thing. I mean, Lauren isn't exactly super open about her feelings, so you have to read between the lines. But she's talked about you a lot – how you helped with the wards on her manor, how you took her to see the city when she wasn't supposed to, stuff like that. It just makes sense."

"It does?" Hunter asks blankly. He looks over at Lauren, who's now talking to Cam, and the sun is beginning to set behind her, infusing the atmosphere with golden light. He glances back at Emily and adds, "So far, two different people have told me how Lauren feels about me, but neither of them have been Lauren."

Emily shrugs. "Then maybe you should go talk to her." Well, that makes sense. She pauses, then frowns at him. "You're not going to hurt her, are you?"

"What – _no_ ," Hunter says adamantly. "I would never – "

Emily suddenly seems much less small as she brings up a hand to poke him in the chest. "Because if you do, we'll have to hunt you down. So don't do that."

He stares at her, bewildered and amused. And maybe a little scared. "I won't," he promises. "I just – I just need to make sure – "

He needs to talk to Blake, is what he needs to do, or even Tori, or maybe his other teammates would do, someone better with _feelings_ than him. His friends can always sort him out in a way he can't.

But his friends are also all _busy_ and the next thing he knows, Emily is waving Lauren over and abandoning him to his fate. Damn yellows.

"Hi," Lauren says, a small smile playing on her lips. Her voice is kind of quiet, but it makes his heart leap nevertheless. "How are you?"

"Great," he says, clearing his throat. "I'm – I'm great. How are you?"

"Great," she repeats, and it echoes in awkward silence for a moment until they both speak at the same time –

"I just wanted to say – "

"I missed you – "

There's another pause, and he kind of wants to laugh, and also kind of wants to go crawl in a hole.

Lauren smiles, this time brighter. "I missed you, too," she admits. "It's – it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Four years," he says, then wishes he hadn't counted. "You know, I, uh, I wanted to tell you – we have a few samurai at the Thunder Academy now."

Her eyes widen. "You do?"

He grins at her, doesn't say that it was because he was thinking of her that he allowed them in. "Yeah, it'd been a few centuries, you know. We have to keep up with the times, and all."

She ducks her head, but he can tell she's laughing. "That's great. I would love to meet them sometime, if you can arrange it."

"Absolutely," he says, probably too quickly. "You can come by anytime, you know that, right?"

She shifts her weight, smiles at him. "I do. Thanks."

Hunter coughs, looking down. "I also – I wanted to ask you – " He pauses, unsure of how to say this, unsure because, even though he's asked out so many girls, none of them have been like this. Two meetings over the course of six years, him a teacher without focus and her a girl with a grave, and now here they are.

The sun is sinking over the horizon, and it kind of feels like the very first day he met her.

"Yes?" she prompts because he's been silent too long, and he swallows.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me. On a date. Somewhere. Uh, anywhere, really – " He's babbling, he needs to stop. He has no idea what she's thinking, and his heart is doing gymnastics in his chest, and they probably have an audience by now, but he doesn't want to look up from her face to see.

"I – " _God_ , she's going to say no and he's going to want to _dive into the bottom of a lake_ – "Yes."

 _Wait_.

"Yes?" he repeats, because he has to make sure.

Lauren's smiling, proper and genuine and full of light. "Yes," she says again. "I'd love to."

Hunter lets out a breath for what feels like the first time in hours. "Oh. Okay – okay, great! I mean, great. That's great." He should stop talking. "Do you like Italian?"

Lauren laughs. "No."

He makes a face at her. "What is _wrong_ with you samurai – "

"Pasta is _unhealthy_."

"Okay, well, do you guys know how to have _fun_?"

"And pizza is just _cheese_ and _bread_ – "

"I can't believe I'm going on a date with a girl who doesn't understand _pizza_ – "

-:-

She ends up enjoying the pizza, anyway. There's something to be said for ninjas and samurais meeting in the middle.

* * *

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